That wouldn't exactly cut it. What you really need is a planetarium-like dome with projectors (this has been discussed in another thread). That way, things that are projected at the edge of a large FOV will be at the edge of your real FOV, and also projected onto a spherical-shaped screen. That way everything looks natural. The ultimate simulator experience

That would be far more expensive than a curved monitor or even a few curved monitors if you wanted a high resolution projector dome.

Friend of mine has 3 curved monitors, kind of like this.

Its quite a different experience in games like SE and very high FOVs work really well on them. The edge of the monitors on the sides is on the edge of your peripheral vision.

That was a pretty good read. If I made a bit more money I would totally invest in a system like that. That would make space engine so much better, not to mention flight simulators would so much more fun.

This all seems overly complex now. Wouldn't the best option be to have OLED lenses on a pair of VR glasses that cover your whole field of view in high resolution with a sensor for when you tilt your head or move your eyes. That technology is starting to become a reality so I suspect it would be far cheaper than giant domes and curved screens.

I guess you have a 4:3 monitor... I calculated the best FOV with the width of my monitor and the distance I stay from it, and 37 degrees works perfect for me, but 20 degrees looks like very zoomed. I think using a 37 degrees FOV is most like you are looking through a window or something.

I'm on a 1920x1040, actually. But it shouldn't matter, as the FOV is measured from the top of the screen to the bottom, not from side to side. 40 degrees does cause deformation:

These are two images of the same planet at 40 degrees FOV, the right one is when it's in the middle of the screen, while the left is when it's at the left edge of the screen. It is quite clear the one taken on the side of the screen is deformed to me.

Technically, ANY field of view will cause distortion, it's just a matter of how much (though below a certain threshold, that distortion will be sub-pixel in scale).

Quote (apenpaap)

40 degrees does cause deformation:

That image seems a tad peculiar to me: I use a slightly larger FOV, and it does not look as distorted as your image. A planet at the edge of the screen at the same FOV and the same aspect ratio should always look identical.

But the difference isn't all that much, so it could just be in my mind.